


the days in between (the madness of life)

by cloudchasers_xx



Series: can’t think straight. [1]
Category: Designated Survivor (TV)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Outsider, aaron can get a little childish sometimes, and it shows in this fic, designated survivor but make it gay, does this follow timeline?, featuring seth's deadly monster coffee drink, gay for who you ask? gay for nadia, goddamnit they're dorks, idk i'm going to make olivia gay now, nope - Freeform, olivia is based on me if you haven't realized
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:54:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24874972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudchasers_xx/pseuds/cloudchasers_xx
Summary: Olivia startles at Matthew’s voice. She flips him off and goes back to washing the dishes that are still in the sink.“Do you think he’s going to finally follow your advice?” He asks some time after while he rearranges the cakes on the counter.“Absolutely! I think for once, he’s going to listen.”Matthew looks skeptical but he doesn’t say more. Olivia is sure, today is the day Aaron finally man ups and tells Seth how he feels.in which aaron shore befriends a barista and annoys her to no end about his crush with a certain press secretary.
Relationships: Aaron Shore & Original Female Character(s), Aaron Shore/Seth Wright, Nadia Espinosa/Original Female Character(s)
Series: can’t think straight. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1802203
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	the days in between (the madness of life)

**Author's Note:**

> i love this ship fight me. i'm pretty sure almost half of us shipped this before lyor came into view

The good thing about working in a two storey coffee shop near the White House was the number of office workers coming in and out everyday. The great thing about working in a two storey coffee shop near the White House in D.C, was that it was almost always hot and the sight of the muscles of various office workers in tight fitting clothes was heavenly.

Now Olivia Rossi wasn’t one to ogle and flirt and forget to do her job. Far from it. She was a serious twenty-four years old who desperately needed some money to pay for her shitty apartment in D.C which she shared with two of her friends and help for her tuition. She was also a very single woman who had a thing for almost everyone. She even had the opportunity to become more or less friends with some of them.

Olivia swears that if she has to hear about Aaron Shore’s epic crush on one Seth Wright, she is going to kill him, everyone in the room and then herself.

* * *

The story of how Olivia became friends with Aaron was just embarrassing. It happened on a Monday morning, it was eight, the coffee shop had just opened and the young woman was sweeping the floor while ranting to her colleague—a younger boy named Matthew—about the new National Security Advisor. Matthew was definitely not listening to her.

“...and he's so tall! He could literally step on me! Like splat! No more Olivia.” She was full of energy, running on two strong coffees already. “At least I would die in dignity, stepped on by one hell of a sexy beast! Or better, he could like, choke me, have you seen those arms? Matthew, he has, like, muscles the size of my head! My head! My ex had nothing like that! God really plays favorites and that guy? He’s at the top of the list!”

Matthew continued wiping the counter and she went on with her rant, none of them noticing Aaron standing at the door.

“And those eyes? Oh, I could talk all day about those! He’s so well put together, I swear, the person who gets him? They will be one lucky bastard, I tell you that. Damn! I would smack that and I would smack it hard!”

By then, Matthew had noticed the customer who was staring, completely dumbfounded at the small woman who was still furiously sweeping the floor. He gasped and tried to get the girl’s attention so she could stop talking and stop embarrassing herself further. The second-hand embarrassment was quite strong.

“Olivia,” he said, eyes never leaving the tall brunette.

“...and like I’m sure he’s good, no, great even in bed...”

“Olivia.”

“...and with kids? Oh god, please! Imagine if he’s great with kids? That would be so sexy!”

“Olivia.”

“...fuck, imagine him, holding a baby! I’m sure he gives good hugs.”

“Olivia!”

“...with his strong arms and his rock hard body and his soft smile and...”

“Oh my god, Olivia!”

She signed dreamily. “And you know what his name is? They call him Aaron, I think. I would love to scream—” 

“Olivia, shut the fuck up!”

She jumped at the sudden yell, not used to the younger boy yelling at her. He was usually pretty calm. She glanced at him, ready to scold him for his rudeness but was stopped by his wide eyes, the light blush dusting his cheeks and his eyes shifting between her and the door. When she glanced at the entrance, she was stunned by the presence of the man she had been ranting about, read thirsting over, for the last couple of minutes. She stared at him and he did the same, and at this moment, the only thing she wanted was for the ground to swallow her whole. Or for a bolt of lightning to suddenly strike her. Both were good.

However, Olivia’s father didn’t raise no coward, so she gulped down the intense embarrassment she was feeling, walked behind the counter in a robotic manner, put the broom against the wall, stood behind the cash machine and gave her best customer service smile, under Matthew and Aaron’s wide eyes.

“What can I get you today?”

**_Mortifying._ **

* * *

After that eventful morning, the two had promised to never talk about it again. Olivia had been mortified and couldn’t look at him in the eyes for a week. Aaron had been kind, thanking her for her compliments. He had also let her down kindly, something she was definitely expecting, and had continued to come in to get his usual. They had formed an unique customer-employee bond that consisted of small talks and laughs. Slowly, that relation became something more and after a particularly long conversation on a slow day, one about a certain Press Secretary with brown hair and warm eyes, they had become friends. 

Now, don’t get her wrong, she loved Aaron with all her heart, he was nice and kind and funny, but he was also very smitten and completely in love with his best friend. If she had known that being friends with Aaron included him pinning —loudly— over his ridiculously hot best friend, she would have passed.

“I swear whenever he’s in the room, I can’t think straight! He’s so dreamy.”

She hums, wiping the counter that separated Aaron from her. Matthew was at the counter, taking orders instead of her today. 

“It’s like my brain just goes blank and starts playing Whatta man! Non-stop.”

“You’re whipped,” she rolls her eyes and takes the empty cup in front of him. “It’s getting ridiculous to be honest.”

“But, have you seen him?”

“Stop whining, and yes, I have seen Seth. He’s on the news, like, everyday.” She quickly makes him another coffee and smiles when she puts it down in front of him. 

“You’re pouting.” she says teasingly, “Here, quadruple shot Americano pour-over for your man, just as strong as he is. I can’t believe you’re letting Seth kill himself with this drink.”

“I don’t pout. I’m the National Security Advisor. Plus, he’s totally addicted to that drink. I couldn’t stop him even if I wanted to.”

“Sure you don’t. Now go, I have work to do and so do you, Aaron! Lives to change, and a sexy man to impress. I mean, it’s not with a bitter espresso that you’re gonna sweeten him up.”

“That’s not even a real expression!”

She ignores and points to the door. He leaves, still pouting, but she knows he will come back tomorrow with a big grin, the energy of a golden retriever and his heart full of love for Seth Wright. 

Deep down, she can’t wait to hear him rant about how Seth’s eyes are the prettiest he had ever seen. Again.

“Who would have thought the sexy, muscular office worker you’ve been thirsting over was the biggest dork I’ve ever met.” Matthew smiles from his place behind the register as he writes a name on the cup he has in hand.

“I know right? He fell in love, it’s cute.”

* * *

Forget what Olivia had said about listening to Aaron rant about Seth’s eyes again. She can’t do it. She refuses to hear him whine and pine at her thoroughly cleaned counter one more time. She’s going to kill him. She swears she will.

“And when he looks at children? He has that warm gaze and he—”

“—has that cute laugh and his eyes crinkles and oh my god, Olivia, I think I’m going to die if he does it one more time.” She mocks him, deepening her voice so it can resemble his.

He huffs, sticking out his tongue in a childish manner—and it’s such a Aaron thing to do she can’t help but smile—and takes a sip of his coffee. Olivia will never understand the way he takes his coffee. His usual was a double espresso, with three tablespoon of sugar and way too much milk. More sugar than anything. She hates it with a passion, he wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s pretty sure he doesn’t even need it seeing how overly energetic he always seems to be.

“I swear, Shore, I’ve heard this exact same speech at least seven times.”

“You’re exaggerating, it’s the first time I’m telling you this.” He lies. He knows he’s lying.

“It’s really not!” Matthew shouts from his spot. The younger boy is wiping a table but that doesn’t mean he’s not listening.

“See, even Matthew says it!”

Aaron groans and gives her his empty cup—molotov cocktail really—and gets up. She looks at him with a frown. She doesn’t want to meddle with his love life, really, she was sure he had other people for that, but she’s also the one who has to listen to him wax poetry about Seth every time he comes in the shop. He comes very often.

“Aaron.” She says softly, her eyes full with fondness and sincerity, “You’re obviously in love with the guy. I mean, even Matthew can see it and he’s just nineteen. He knows nothing about love—” 

“—Hey!”

“And from what you’ve told me, I think it’s safe to assume that he likes you too. Shoot your shot honey, I’m sure it will land where it’s supposed to.”

Aaron smiles at her and takes the espresso she’s handing him. He leaves with a thank you and a light blush, and she’s sure she made a good choice when she decided to give him her advice.

“That wasn’t even a real expression.”

Olivia startles at Matthew’s voice. She flips him off and goes back to washing the dishes that are still in the sink.

“Do you think he’s going to finally follow your advice?” He asks some time after while he rearranges the cakes on the counter.

“Absolutely! I think for once, he’s going to listen.”

Matthew looks skeptical but he doesn’t say more.

Olivia is sure, today is the day Aaron finally man ups and tells Seth how he feels.

* * *

Aaron does not, in fact, man up and tells Seth how he feels, and Olivia is ready to throttle him, right here, right now.

He doesn’t come alone today, he knows the moment she learns he didn’t follow her advice she’s going to try and kill him. Literally. So he comes with Hannah—big mistake—, and they chat calmly. Aaron tries to keep a low profile, he does. Matthew isn’t in but Olivia is. Thankfully, when Hannah and Aaron come in, she's in the back and another cashier takes his order. He doesn’t miss her flinch when he puts his three usual sugar and the milk nor does he miss Hannah’s disgusted look.

“No wonder you’re always all over the place. How can you drink that, Aaron?”

“It tastes great!” Aaron defends, offended. “Do you wanna try?”

“Hell no, Aaron.”

“Shame,” he mutters. He hears the sound of footsteps and knows that if he doesn’t want to face the wrath of an angry and disappointed five foot three Olivia, he has to leave now. He tries to drag Hannah toward the entrance but the agent doesn’t move. She frowns at him, an eyebrow arched in questioning. He’s about to answer when the voice of the woman he dreaded to see today comes to his ears.

“Aaron Shore, I hope you come in with good news.”

Olivia is standing not too far from them, hands on her hips and a smirk plastered on her face. He’s done for.

“Well you see...”, he starts, but judging by the scowl that takes place on her face, it’s the wrong way to start.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t...”

“I won't tell you...?”

“Aaron!” she face palms, completely annoyed by the brunette, “We talked about this! I thought—”

“—it’s not my fault you assumed—”

“—and you were smiling—”

“—I just couldn’t—”

“Hey!” Hannah stops them, clearly confused by them, “What’s going on with you two?”

“Your friend here,” Olivia points at Aaron, who makes an offended noise, “has been pining over a guy for months and he still hasn’t told him anything! I’m sick of it! Tell her, you over sized golden retriever with brown hair!”

Hannah blinks and glances between the angry barista and the pouting man. For someone who likes to say he doesn’t pout, Aaron sure does it often.

“Are you talking about Seth?” She says, a wide grin suddenly taking up all of her face, “You’re talking about Seth, right?”

“Yes! Everyday, it’s Seth this, Seth that! Seth looked so cute today! Seth shaved his beard today, I’m sad! Seth, Seth, Seth! I’m sick of him pining over the man!”

“Oh darling, trust me, we are too. We have this bet going on...”

“I’m still here, Hannah.”

They both ignore him. In the end, the two women complain about him and his pining over Seth, who is obviously totally in love with him too, until the two receive a message from Emily. They leave, not with the monster energizer for Seth, and of course, Hannah gets Olivia’s number so they can continue talking.

Talking turns into gossiping and gossiping turns into scheming, and really, Aaron should have known that bringing Hannah with him was a bad idea.

He should have brought Emily.

* * *

Olivia is a firm believer that love conquers all. She’s also a firm believer that fate will do the work but sometimes fate needs a little push. That’s all she’s doing. A little push into the right direction. Aaron needs this, the White House needs this, she needs this. Hell, even America needs this. Olivia is a pacifist, but there’s the word ‘fist’ in pacifist and she’s ready to throw hands at Aaron. Seriously.

Somehow, she finds herself at the entrance of the staircase of the coffee shop, a cup of a monster energizer drink in her hand and a cup of sweet, deadly mixture. There’s no way she will call that a coffee. She’s replaying the plan Hannah and her — and a woman named Nadia — had formed the night before.

It was quite simple, convince Aaron’s gang of friends to go to the coffee shop for lunch, give Aaron the death cocktail he usually orders and the coffee for his ‘boyfriend’, be sure to say so loudly so everyone will hear it, bam: Aaron and Seth finally get together.

Perfect plan. This Nadia woman is a real menace in terms of scheme. Olivia is pretty sure she’s in love with the woman.

She finally gets to the second floor and her eyes immediately find Nadia’s. The woman greets her with a wave and a wink, and Olivia blushes, looking down to the floor. Another woman in a pantsuit with files in her hand looks at her questionably. Olivia looks up and raises her hands, both holding the cups of coffee. She just looks confused but doesn’t ask more. Nadia comes up to him and starts explaining the plan to her in a hushed tone. The little smile that appears on his face and the mischievous one on the woman’s face is enough for her to know that she had the green light to go on with the plan.

“Aaron!” Olivia shouts, and Aaron turns around, together with Seth and Hannah, a smirk on her face.

“Olivia? I haven’t ordered anything yet.” The confusion on his face was clear. 

“It’s on the house! It’s the owner’s birthday today, and everything is on the house, so I brought you your early grave.” She shows him the first cup, and as he stands up and approaches to get it, she adds, loudly, “And this is the quadruple shot Americano pour-over you always order for your boyfriend, Seth!”

He stops. In fact, everyone just stops. She’s pretty sure the waitresses downstairs and here stopped doing their things the moment she had said the b-word. Olivia is already proud of herself. Seth splutters from where he is, eyes wide and unblinking. Aaron is frozen, still and she isn’t sure he’s still breathing.

“You’re gonna take it, or...?”, she looks behind her only to see Hannah and Nadia holding their phones, recording the scene. When she turns back, both Seth and Aaron are blushing madly. She doesn’t really know how blushing works but Aaron looks like he might pass out. Good. That’s for all the time he spent ranting about Seth for what felt like hours.

“It was very nice to meet you, Seth! It’s great to finally put a face on the boyfriend! The number of times Aaron talks about you, I feel like I’ve known you my whole life!” It’s a lie, but Olivia knows how to read between the lines. Go big or go home, right?

“Anyway, I gotta go back to work! I hope I will see you the next time he comes in!” She claps her hand cheerfully, nods at Hannah, who sends her thumbs-up, pats Aaron’s arm, waves at Emily and Nadia and promptly leaves them alone.

* * *

The next time Aaron comes in, he’s beaming. A different aura surrounds him and he isn’t alone. Right beside him, holding his hand, a smile on his face as well, there’s Seth. They are disgustingly cute together, all lovey-dovey stares and smitten laughs. Olivia now has to listen to Aaron and Seth wax poetry about each-other. She’s not sure if she prefers that over Aaron’s pining.

Olivia swears that if she has to hear about how Aaron has muscles worth millions, or how Seth’s eyes are warm like hot chocolate by the fireplace, she’s going to kill the two of them, Nadia, Hannah, everyone in this goddamn place and then herself.

As Aaron and Seth sit next to the window, holding hands, Nadia slips into view. 

“They’re so dorky. It’s disgustingly cute.” Nadia says thoughtfully, snapping a picture, before forwarding it to Olivia. Olivia grins as Aaron tries Seth’s monster of a drink, before grinning and passing it back to Seth.

“You know this is just the beginning, right?” Nadia asks, and Olivia cocks her head to the side.

“Why?”

“Cause these two are emotionally constipated dumbasses. I mean dealing with them pining was bad enough. Now we’re going to have to deal with them in love.”

“Shit.” The cup that Olivia was holding slammed down hard. “You’re right. Those two idiots are never going to be able to manage a relationship by themselves. We’re not done, are we?”

“Nope,” Nadia said. She then smiled coyly at Olivia. “I suppose this means we’ll just have to keep talking…you know, for the sake of our friends and cousins.”

“Hmm,” Olivia hummed, her eyes scanning Nadia, who looked so damn good in her black pantsuit. “I think you’re right. Why don’t we keep talking, say, tomorrow at lunch?”

“Or…tonight at my place?” Nadia’s smile was as sweet as it was predatory, and damn, Olivia was going to be in so much trouble with this one.

“Sounds perfect.”


End file.
